EverydayMUFC2

Arne Slot noted in his post-game interview that Manchester United went long more often than they proceeded with short build up. Andre Onana went long 20 times during the course of the match, with United fighting for the second ball. Liverpool could not engage their press, create momentum and atmosphere within the stadium but most importantly win the ball back in high areas

When MU did build out from the back they used the CCB differently, creating a 4-4 set up with the CBs deep, pivot narrow and width supplied by the WBs. The front 3 m2m on the CBs, Liverpool pivot stepped up onto the MU pivot. Ugarte drops, pulling AMA deep. Maz holds width, dragging Gakpo wider. Amad is able to drop in to receive the ball to beat the first press

Maz pulls wide, again dragging Gakpo wider. Amad drifts inside, nice pass from Ugarte to find him. Hojlund makes a nice run to drag both Konate+VVD to thr right which opens the space in behind for Bruno. The pass from Amad is great, fernandes times the pass perfectly into a good area. Hojlund should make a run across the front of VVD, it’s a tap in from there.

The goal is perfect, exactly the type of football Amorim wants. 3-2 base, Pool narrow to block central progression. Space is in the wide areas, Dalot receives, playing the ball into Mainoo who recycles back to Maguire. Maguire quickly passes to De Ligt, who feeds Mazrauri. Robertson does not want to jump due to Amad’s positioning BTL, crucially behind the Liverpool midfield

United recycle back to Maguire who switches to Dalot again, this time Dalot+Bruno have a 2v2 in the wide channel. Bruno drops to offer a pass, pulls Konate away which frees the space in behind for Dalot to run into. He plays in a cross which is cleared wide to Trent, but MU are compact, pushed high as a United which means Mainoo, Dalot+Bruno can really put the squeeze on Trent

Martinez charges out of the back 3, EXACTLY want Amorim wants from his CBs. He wins the ball, continues his run to create an overload on the left side. Bruno does fantastic work to dribble through a tight area, the pass into Martinez is subtle but superb. The finish from the CB is fantastic, a deserved lead

The Narrow+deep pivot pull the Liverpool midfield up the pitch, creating space for United to go longer here and fight for the second ball. Bruno wins it, plays a great pass into Garnacho whos 1v1. The run from Hojlund is absolutely crucial, dragging VVD into the 6 yard box which creates the space for the cutback which Amad finished well.

But it was OOP where the biggest differences were, in structure and mentality. United changes from a 532/523 off the ball to a narrow 541. This meant the Liverpool front 3 were constantly overloaded, United could clog central areas like below, creating a 4v3 in the midfield. MU did not press the ball in the first line, which was a smart decision for keeping compactness

However, the issue with having a very tight centre is that the switch is on. MU made it very difficult to switch it (I will touch on this further) but when Liverpool were able to cut through that central press it meant Trent+Salah usually had 2v2 situatins against Dalot and Martinez. MDL charges out of the backline, the correct approach to pressure Diaz but Fernandes should tuck in a little more here to allow the backline to move across too

We can see from the pic below that if Diaz is able to squeeze the ball across to Trent then United have an issue. The Midfield 4 is very narrow, meaning the space is outwide. This is where the advantage of having an extra CB comes in, Maguire is able to come charging out of the backline to intercept the ball knowing United are still relatively well set. It was not just a one off…

Here Fernandes is higher to put pressure on the ball+block lanes. Mainoo on Gravenberch+ Ugarte on MacAllister. The issue would be Jones, the 3rd midfielder becomes free. However, Martinez this time is able to jump out of the backline to pressure Jones, MU now have the two pivot players marked off meaning the only pass is back to Konate. Really good from united

The CB stepping up allowed United to widen their midfield 4, stretching across more of the pitch which meant that the issues of Liverpool creating 2v2 in the wide areas+beating the MU press via switches was dealt with a lot better

But the biggest difference was the fight, mentality and willing to work for yourself and for your team. On some occasions the wide player for Liverpool got the ball vs the WB, only to be faced by the WCB and one of the pivot players. United overwhelmed Liverpool in wide areas with their tenacity and work rate

Part 2 Notice the time, last moments of the game but Ugarte still able to get back into great positions

Having fight+personality is key but athletes and quality is so vital too Look at the recovery pace from Leny Yoro. Incredible speed to get back into a good position before making a superb tackle under immense pressure in a difficult position. TOP

And with performance came confidence. 2-1 down, needing a goal and deserving at least a draw, MU really started to push. They pressed a lot higher, putting pressure on the CBs, going with a more man to man approach, locking off the right side here forcing VVD long to win back possession.

MU probably should have won it at the end with the Maguire chance, but it was a great performance and a great tactical showing from Ruben Amorim. But critically, the players played with pride, fearlessness and showed a menaltity that makes you hard to beat. The standard has been set, don’t let it slip

Thank you for reading🫡